


Before It's Over

by BarefootJourney



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Admiral Janeway - Freeform, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:08:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23022988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarefootJourney/pseuds/BarefootJourney
Summary: Set 25 years after Voyager's return, Seven and crew hear of a Borg cube that's dead in space.  An investigation must occur.Burning alloys and electricity assaulted her senses. The toxic fumes constricting her ability to breathe, see, think.It couldn't be...Not here.The shape of a Starfleet insignia appeared in a strobe of light, its location tugged her focus to a heap of robotic parts.It had to be a hallucination.The Admiral.....
Relationships: Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine
Comments: 10
Kudos: 37





	Before It's Over

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, folks. The muses apparently wanted to hit us in the feels with this one. I promise a follow up or more chapters that might perhaps fix it.  
> Mistakes are all mine.  
> Comments and criticisms welcomed.

2 decades.  
Civilian clothes.  
Memories, experiences, individual and unique.  
Textures of fabrics.  
The breeze as whispers to the leaves, rousing them from their slumber to create a shimmering dance of light and shadow in the warm summer sunset.  
The thick scent of earth in the air after a storm.  
Hot tea on the couch, sinking into a nest of blankets, a cocoon of soft simple pleasure.  
Her first taste of apple pie.... 

All this between her and the collective.  
A buffer between her and the past.  
And yet.... 

She was still Borg.  
Whirring of cybernetic parts, sparking of conduits and wires. The cacophony of repairs and orders being given without words... 

It filled her ears, trickling down and snuffing the tiny ember of hope and life that she had tried to protect in her soul, replacing it with cold, unfeeling, emptiness. 

*******  
Burning alloys and electricity assaulted her senses. The toxic fumes constricting her ability to breathe, see, think. 

It couldn't be...  
Not here.  
The shape of a Starfleet insignia appeared in a strobe of light, its location tugged her focus to a heap of robotic pieces. 

It had to be a hallucination. 

The Admiral.

She knelt among the rubble of fragmented Borg garbage. 

A tarnished comm badge lay useless beside a technologically enhanced limb. 

"Captain?"  
She knew the rank was incorrect, but bubbled up to the surface too quickly to filter, coming from her heart instead of her head. 

Recognition flashed.  
"Seven?"  
.  
Seven held out her hand, ready to activate the tubules. A quick supply of nanoprobes would buy Janeway time until they could get to a proper facility to repair the damage. 

Before she could deploy her plan, the admiral halted her.  
"No!" 

"But --" 

"You'll be infected. It destroys in minutes." 

****  
"Tell me, please. Did I get Voyager home?" 

"Yes. We were greeted by a convoy and Admiral Paris. There was much fanfare and ridiculously extravagant celebrations." 

"Starfleet did not try to exploit you?" 

"No. They found you to be rather... intimidating." 

"And you and Chakotay?" 

"No. You." 

"Me and Chakotay?!?!" 

"You and I." Seven clarified. "There was an incident with Chakotay and the effects led me to seek out your guidance and comfort. I ended up staying with you, Gretchen, and Phoebe in Bloomington, Indiana. Tom and Belanna come around often. I sleep with Friday now." 

"You stole my teddy bear?" 

"You gave him to me under the strange premise of keeping me safe while you are away." 

She knew Seven well enough to read the subtleties of her body language. There was something that wasn't being said.  
"Am I still away?" 

"Tuvok arrived for a while and Phoebe tested his patience and logic. She did get him to smile, though. Three times, in fact." 

"Seven. What happened?" 

"Temporal Prime Directive." 

"Nice try." 

"I miss you. So much. There is a pain that I cannot alleviate and I feel more lost now than when you first severed me from the collective." 

The dying former Admiral struggled to breathe, her tech systems failing, her biologic ones unable to adapt. 

"Seven..." 

The way she said her name tore apart the last shreds of composure.  
Seven, in desperate reverence, leaned forward and pressed her lips to Janeway's forehead.  
"I Love You." She whispered through her tears. 

The Admiral smiled. This was the first time she had ever heard those words from Seven. And she was trying to accept the reality that it would be the last.  
The moment was slipping away too fast, her mind tried to chase it.


End file.
